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Homeless Man Sentenced 25 Years to Life for Stealing Food Released From Prison Today
Gregory Taylor has served 13 years of his 25-to-life sentence for "trying to break in to a church kitchen to find something to eat," and today he is a free man, according to an AP report published on the Huffington Post.
Taylor became a prime example of California's three-strikes law perhaps at its least effective; though the now 47-year-old was at the time homeless and struggling with addiction, his prior convictions were from the prior decade, one for "stealing a purse containing $10 and another time for trying to rob a man on the street. He didn't use a weapon in either case, and no one was injured." He was arrested in 1997 for trying to break into a L.A. church kitchen to get food.
While incarcerated, Taylor completed his GED, and has plans to live in Pomona and work with his younger brother who runs a food pantry there. His release is the result of an appeal filed earlier this year through Stanford Law School's Three-Strikes Project, which seeks the early release of those convicted of non-violent crimes.
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